"The Bible is to gays what Mein Kampf is to Jews", according to London's gay rights
campaigner Peter Tatchell. "It is the theory and practice of Homo Holocaust".

"Nevertheless, the lesbian and gay community must not stoop to the church's
inhumanity. We should loathe the sin of homophobia, but love the sinner and
strive to deliver them from prejudice and discrimination ".

"For over 1,800 years, the Christian churches followed the murderous
incitements of Leviticus 20:13, sponsoring the mass murder of queers.

"We were stoned to death in antiquity, burned alive during the medieval era
and, in Britain, hung from gallows until the mid-nineteenth century.

"This slaughter of homosexuals took place with the official blessing of
Popes, Cardinals and Archbishops of Canterbury".

Peter Tatchell's Lent talk at St Botolph's, on March 21
was the latest in the series, Ministry & Sexuality in the New Century,organized by Action for Gay and Lesbian Ordination (AGLO), and chaired by Dr
Kenneth Leech.

Tatchell was speaking on the theme of "2000 years of church homophobia -
time for Christian atonement?".

"The time has come for Christian leaders to apologize for the
church-sponsored persecution of lesbian and gay people. Without this gesture
of truth and reconciliation, the homosexual community cannot easily forgive
2,000 years of church homophobia", said Tatchell.

"The church has recently marked the Millennium by celebrating 2,000 years of
Christianity. But many lesbians and gay men were not celebrating. We were
mourning two millennia of Christian prejudice, which has inflicted terrible
pain on homosexual people.

"Over the last 2,000 years, church-inspired homophobia has led to hundreds
of millions of homosexuals worldwide being rejected and reviled by their
families, driven to depression and suicide, discriminated against by
anti-gay laws, and condemned to death for sodomy.

"Christian leaders have never expressed any remorse for the church's
oppression of queers. The Pope's recent apology for Vatican intolerance made
no mention of past Catholic support for murderous anti-homosexual
witch-hunts.

"The Archbishop of Canterbury's millennium sermon in January was an
opportunity to atone for the genocide inflicted on us, but Dr Carey chose to
ignore our suffering.

"When we asked the Archbishop to express his remorse for the church's crimes
against queer humanity, he said nothing. In response to our request for an
apology to the gay community, Dr Carey remained silent and indifferent.

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr George Carey

"The Christian churches, more than any other institution in British society,
have waged an almost ceaseless war against homosexual people.

"It is a war that still continues today. Last year, the Archbishop of
Canterbury mobilized the House of Lords to vote down an equal age of
consent.

"Now, Cardinal Winning is scaremongering and queer-baiting in a desperate
bid to save Section 28.

"Current religious homophobia has its roots in Biblical teaching. Leviticus
20:13 demands that homosexual be put to death.

"The Bible is to gays what Mein Kampf is to Jews. It is the theory and
practice of Homo Holocaust.

"For over 1,800 years, the Christian churches followed the murderous
incitements of Leviticus 20:13, sponsoring the mass murder of queers.

"We were stoned to death in antiquity, burned alive during the medieval era
and, in Britain, hung from gallows until the mid-nineteenth century.

"This slaughter of homosexuals took place with the official blessing of
Popes, Cardinals and Archbishops of Canterbury.

"While the church no longer advocates the death penalty for gay lovers, it
still preaches a gospel of sexual apartheid, arguing that homosexuality
should not be accorded the same moral or legal status as heterosexuality.

"Is not this claim for the moral superiority of heterosexuality analagous to
the way the leaders of the Dutch Reformed Church defended white superiority
during the apartheid era in South Africa?

"Does it not echo their justification of racial discrimination against black
people?

"The Archbishop of Canterbury and Cardinal Winning preach a doctrine of
straight supremacism, which is used by them to justify the abuse of queers
as second class citizens.

"They provide the moral rationale for the homophobic hate campaign of the
Daily Mail. Their opposition to gay equality gives comfort and succour to
queer-bashers everywhere

Cardinal Winning

"While they may disclaim it as their intention, these churchmen incite the
prejudice that fuels the violence against our community. They have queer
blood on their hands.

"Cardinal Winning, Dr Carey and most of the church hierarchy continue to
support discrimination against gay people with regard to the age of consent,
marriage, employment, Section 28 and the fostering and adoption of children.

"They say that lesbians and gay men are not entitled to human rights.

"If church leaders advocated similar discrimination against black or Jewish
people, there would be a nationwide outcry. They would be shunned and
discredited.

"Instead, these apostles of intolerance and unreason are invited to advise
the government on the content of the school curriculum.

"In this atmosphere of on-going religious bigotry, it is difficult to show
forgiveness - all the more so when the church leaders who have authorised
our victimization show no signs of sorrow and regret.

"Nevertheless, the lesbian and gay community must not stoop to the church's
inhumanity. We should loathe the sin of homophobia, but love the sinner and
strive to deliver them from prejudice and discrimination ", said
Tatchell.